The present invention is directed generally to a fishing rod handle assembly and is directed specifically to an improved arrangement by which a reel and a rod section can be simultaneously or, selectively, independently secured to the handle.
It is customary to secure the reel and rod section to the handle by independent means. Most commonly, the foot of the reel is secured to the reel seat on the handle by one of a variety of clamping arrangements that are tightened and released by actuating mechanisms which quite frequently extend radially outwardly with respect to the handle to interrupt the otherwise smoothly contoured exterior surface of the handle. The configuration of such actuating mechanisms often precludes the application of sufficient torque effectively to secure or release the reel merely by the unaided fingers and inconveniently requires the use of a coin, screwdriver or the like. In addition, the numerous small clamping plates, nuts, screws or the like employed in such an arrangement are otherwise difficult to manipulate, easy to lose and unduly increase the manufacturing cost.
Similarly, it is customary to secure the rod section to the handle by an independent collet which anchors the butt portion of a rod section within a cylindrical cavity at the front of the handle by actuating means which operate wholly independently of the means to actuate the reel clamping arrangement. Inasmuch as the collet is normally freely rotatable within the cylindrical cavity, particularly close attention must be paid to insure that proper alignment of the line guides on the rod section is maintained with respect to the reel secured, or to be secured, on the handle section.
The prior art reveals a number of different arrangements by which simultaneously to secure both a rod section and a reel to a handle by a combined mechanism. The concepts most frequently heretofore employed require that a special ferrule be permanently secured to the butt portion of the rod section. In some arrangements the ferrule is threaded in order to be engaged by a locking nut mounted on the handle; the threaded engagement is generally employed to secure the rod to the handle, and as the rod is threaded into the handle, the ferrule is moved rearwardly to engage and lock against the mounting foot of the fishing reel, or the ferrule is moved rearwardly to engage an independent member which in turn engages and locks against the mounting foot of the reel.
In other known, prior art arrangements embodying a ferrule secured to the butt portion of rod section, the locking nut is retained on the rod section meshingly to engage thread means provided on the handle.
Because both of the foregoing concepts require the use of special ferrules permanently secured to the butt portion of the rod section, they require an undue duplication of parts in order to permit a variety of rod sections to be interchangeable with a single handle. In addition, the aforementioned prior art concepts do not permit the rod or reel to be independently mounted on the handle, an arrangement often highly desirable to accommodate various transportation facilities.
Only rarely have combination means for simultaneously attaching a reel and rod section to a handle been adapted to accommodate the butt portion of a rod section without the use of a special ferrule, and in those arrangements the clamping means has generally extended rearwardly from the locking collet within which the butt portion of the standard rod section is received and has been slidably received through a conforming passageway in the forward portion of the handle to exit in proximity to the reel seat. The clamping means are also normally beveled wedgingly to engage the mounting foot on the reel. The wedging interaction between the clamping means aand the mounting foot on the reel, however, not only clamps the mounting foot against the handle but also tends to bind the clamping means within the passageway, sometimes making it relatively difficult to release either the reel or the rod section.